5.11.2006

Qwest to NSA: Get FISA approval for records

The National Security Agency requested phone records of tens of millions of phone calls made by their customers. AT&T, Verizon, and Bell South all complied.

The one company that refused the request was Qwest Communications based in Denver, Colorado. In response to the NSA's request, Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio told them to obtain approval under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Unable to get comfortable with what NSA was proposing, Qwest's lawyers asked NSA to take its proposal to the FISA court. According to the sources, the agency refused.

The NSA's explanation did little to satisfy Qwest's lawyers. "They told (Qwest) they didn't want to do that because FISA might not agree with them," one person recalled. For similar reasons, this person said, NSA rejected Qwest's suggestion of getting a letter of authorization from the U.S. attorney general's office. A second person confirmed this version of events.